Croatian Democratic Union

The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is a center-right conservative party in Croatia, the second-largest party in the Croatian Parliament. It has 210,000 members, and from 1990 to 2000 it ruled Croatia. Its ideologies are Croatian nationalism, national conservatism, conservatism, Christian democracy, and pro-Europeanism.

History
The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was founded on 17 June 1989 by Franjo Tudman, who became the first President of Croatia on 30 May 1990. The HDZ was seen as a way to declare independence from the Yugoslavia-loyal Croatian Communist Party, and the HDZ was in power from 1990 to 2000. It oversaw the transformation of Croatia into a capitalist state, but the problems of restitution for lands seized in the breakup of Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav Wars led to some problems. The HDZ lost power in 2000 following Tudman's death in 1999, but in 2015, party member Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic won the presidency from Ivo Josipovic's Social Democratic Party of Croatia.